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Read Write Think, an organization dedicated to providing access to the highest quality practices in reading and language arts instruction through free materials, has resources specifically for parents and afterschool practitioners. The website has lessons and activities for different grades, games and tools, podcasts, and a series of tips and how-tos. These resources are appropriate for afterschool instructors, or they can also be used as family engagement resources to give parents more information on taking part in their student’s education.

The PBS LearningMedia website has a series of professional learning resources on Common Core State Standards in English language arts and mathematics. The resources include model instructional best practices, information about assessments, and an in-depth explanation of the standards. Resources for both content areas were produced by the Tennessee public television stations.

Public broadcasting television station KLRU has created and curated online resources to help students learn more about U.S. presidents and the presidency. Resources include “60 second presidents,” short video clips about U.S. presidents, presidential portraits, biographies, speeches and addresses, information about the powers of the presidency, campaigns, and elections, and information about first ladies throughout history.

Published by the Carnegie Corporation, Adolescent Literacy Development in Out-of-School Time: A Practitioner’s Guidebook helps educators integrate adolescent literacy development initiatives into out-of-school programs. The publication identifies different ways that out-of-school programs support adolescent literacy: explicit literacy and academic instructional activities, literary enhancement, supporting general academic enrichment, and social development activities that may require the use of literacy-related skills. There is also information on promising practices in supporting adolescent literacy and ideas and strategies for planning, implementing, and expanding an out-of-school time program’s adolescent literacy offerings.

Looking for some new STEM activities? ExtendED Notes has a Pinterest board with dozens of activities to build students’ skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Resources range from short experiments to in-depth units that can last several days or weeks.

Published in the Fall 2014 issue of the National Institute on Out-of-School Time’s magazine Afterschool Matters, this article explores how expanded learning programs are responding to and supporting the Common Core State Standards. The article discusses how afterschool practitioners can meet academic standards designed for school while still focusing on important out-of-school time goals like positive youth development.

In May 2014, Boys & Girls Clubs of America convened leaders from higher education, corporations, and nonprofit organizations to participate in their STEM Great Think. This leadership forum sought to combine innovation and creativity with STEM in the out-of-school time environment. The resulting white paper addresses ways that out-of-school time providers can close the opportunity gap in STEM education.

Role models play a vital role in getting youth excited about careers in STEM. Created by Techbridge, the Role Models Matter Online Training Toolkit is a resource to help STEM professionals develop skills to engage girls and underrepresented youth in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Although the toolkit is designed for STEM professionals, afterschool practitioners can also use it when working with community members. The toolkit includes readings, videos, questions, and more.

This report from the Afterschool Alliance summarizes evaluation data from a selection of strong afterschool STEM programs, providing a snapshot of the types of substantive impacts afterschool programs are having on youth. The report also presents some of the research findings about the importance of afterschool and other out-of-school experiences for STEM learning. (Downloads as PDF.)

The Federal Registry for Educational Excellence site helps educators find digital teaching and learning resources created and maintained by the federal government and public and private organizations. Educators can browse materials by subject or by standards, including Common Core State Standards.